Dishwashing appliances generally include a tub that defines a wash compartment. Rack assemblies can be mounted within the wash compartment of the tub for receipt of articles for washing. Spray assemblies within the wash compartment can apply or direct wash fluid towards articles disposed within the rack assemblies in order to clean such articles. Multiple spray assemblies can be provided including e.g., a lower spray arm assembly mounted to the tub at a bottom of the wash compartment, a mid-level spray arm assembly mounted to one of the rack assemblies, and/or an upper spray assembly mounted to the tub at a top of the wash compartment. Other configurations may be used as well.
A dishwashing appliance is typically equipped with at least one pump for circulating fluid through the spray assemblies. Certain conventional dishwashing appliances use a device, referred to as a diverter, to control the flow of fluid in the dishwashing appliance. For example, the diverter can be used to selectively control the flow of fluid through different spray assemblies or other fluid elements. In one construction, the diverter uses a hydraulically actuated diverter valve to selectively provide the flow of fluid to the spray assemblies without the need for a motor. In this regard, a housing of the diverter may define one or more outlet ports and the diverter valve may define one or more apertures. The diverter valve may be configured to move along an axial direction and rotate to selectively align the one or more aperture with the one or more outlet ports.
Notably, however, because the diverter valve must move along and rotate about an axial direction A within the diverter chamber, contact between components and the resulting friction and or binding can restrict the motion of the diverter valve in certain circumstances. For example, if the diverter valve tilts or fails to maintain axial alignment as it moves into the raised position, e.g., due to the imbalanced force of the flowing wash fluid, the diverter valve may not be flush to the housing and friction or binding may prevent the diverter valve from properly seating against the housing. As a result, the diverter valve may fail to rotate to the desired position and may fail to form a fluid seal with the housing, resulting in the flow of wash fluid not being supplied to the desired outlet ports and wash fluid leaking within diverter housing.
Accordingly, a dishwashing appliance with an improved hydraulically actuated diverter would be useful. More specifically, a hydraulically actuated diverter with features for ensuring smooth, low friction sliding of a diverter valve would be particularly beneficial.